The Grand Maze of Annabeth Chase
by ChocolatyBrown
Summary: Annabeth wakes up to find herself in a bizarre situation, one she almost couldn't comprehend. She ventures into the depth of her current reality, looking for a way out.
1. Chapter 1

"This is going to be annoying." Annabeth mumbled as she massaged her head slowly. The headache woke her up from the deep sleep she truly needed, and in her opinion, absolutely deserved. She had a long day of training ahead of her and she needed every ounce of energy she can get to be able to put up with Percy's… act of being Percy.

She yawned, stood up and stretched. In the dim light the curtains filtered in, she could barely see the clock next to her bed. It was eight o'clock in the morning.

"Oh no, no no no." Annabeth repeated in a panicked manner as she jumped up onto her legs. The cabin was completely empty; the training started an hour earlier. She started changing into more suitable outfit, her head throbbing with pain.

In five minutes time, she was ready. She hurried out of the cabin. After years of not being late and endless lectures about being punctual, her downfall finally arrives. "I'm not getting lectured by…" she skids to a halt. "…anyone." She finished the sentence, blinking.

The red, unearthly glow that filled the air seemed to finally register in her brain. Annabeth slowly tilted her head back to the sky, and her heart almost leaped out of her chest. In addition to the fact that the thick, sinister clouds seemed a lot lower than they should be, they were the source of the hellish glow the place was casted in.

"Okay." Annabeth mumbled. She swallowed her panic down, slowly backtracking to the cabin. Her eyes scanned the area, noticing how almost every building in the Camp has been stacked on either side of her, forming a path. It ended in what she assumed in a thick forest. "I'm not freaking out, not at all."

She almost tripped on the steps leading to the door. Once inside, Annabeth locked the door, and took a moment to breathe. This was… not expected. She let herself slip down against the door, and sighed. What the bleeding hell just happened?

Annabeth was pretty sure it's a dream. Even with everything she had been in, this apocalyptic version of reality was too crazy. This didn't calm her though. Dreams were equally dangerous.

She made sure she had her dagger, took a deep breath, and started looking for anything useful in the cabin. She grabbed her backpack, and filled it with anything that might come in handy; extra weapons, a flashlight, a note pad, a pencil and what little rope she found lying around.

Once feeling ready enough, Annabeth unlocked the door and stepped outside, the red glow greeting her eyes again.

"All I want is some sleep. Is that so much to ask for?" She mumbled to herself, walking down the path carefully. With her dagger unsheathed, she inspected the buildings. They were utterly abandoned.

A few minutes later, she finally arrived to the other end of the path, which ended with an arched gateway of complete blackness. A thick, impenetrable wall of vegetation stretched on either way of the gateway. As she got closer, she heard a familiar noise that sent chills down her spine; the sound of miniature legs scrapping against wood, of pincers clicking.

Tens, if not hundreds of spiders crawled on the frame of the gateway, threading more and more webs. They froze as Annabeth got closer, and watched her. She watched back, stopping a few feet away. Of course it had to be spiders. It's always spiders.

She sat down, facing the entrance. She wasn't doing this any time soon. No can do. She continued staring at the spiders, which resumed their crawling.

Maybe if she sat here long enough, she'll wake up. She's bound to wake up sooner or later, anyway. Annabeth knew it was a lie, though. A demigod's dream doesn't work that way. And there is always the possibility that this is not a dream, and something had gone terribly wrong. She sighed, and started digging her dagger into the ground.

After a few minutes, Annabeth grunted. This was stupid. She couldn't sit around, doing nothing, with these spiders mocking her. Even if she'll have to feel the spiders crawl all over her, nibbling her skin and getting stuck in her hair and… and- She shuddered. Her heart rate seemed to be elevated just from the thought of it. She preferred getting stabbed to getting a single spider on her. But she had to do it nonetheless.

Grunting once more, Annabeth got to her feet and started walking towards the spider-coated gateway. The spiders froze again as she approached. "Leave me alone, leave me alone, leave me alone." Annabeth repeated again and again, as she inched her way towards her possible doom. She braced herself and- Annabeth yelped, and took a hurried step back as the crawling noise assaulted her ears. But rather than move towards her, the spiders parted, sticking to the frame and clearing the entrance itself.

Shaken, Annabeth approached the entrance again, carefully cutting the webs off with her dagger. Other than the occasional hissing, the spiders don't move. Annabeth finally walked past the entrance, and at once, the spiders started stirring. In a matter of seconds the entrance was blocked with a thick layer of webs that blocked what little light Annabeth had, and darkness enveloped her.

"Alright." Annabeth took a shaky breath. "Here goes nothing."


	2. Chapter 2

Annabeth rummaged blindly through her backpack, looking for the flashlight. Once she got a hold of it, she let out a sigh of relief and turned it on. Or rather tried to; the flashlight flickered and died out.

"I should have checked it before I ventured into the utter darkness. It's my fault." She said bitterly, smacking the flashlight against her hand. No use. Annabeth sighed, and carefully felt her surroundings. To her surprise, instead of feeling the rough bark of the trees, she felt a rather smooth, cold surface.

She could touch both walls on either side of her if she stretched her arms far enough. She took a few steps forward, expecting to find the third wall, but she never reached it. "Alright, so it's a corridor." Annabeth deduced, feeling a little less panicked. She wasn't utterly lost in a forest. She took a deep breath, and ventured in.

Annabeth inched her way deeper into the corridor, making sure that the ground held her weight with each step. The air was getting thicker, making it harder to breathe. Combined with the lack of visual input, the heightened hearing sense, and the monotonous scraping of her fingers against the walls, Annabeth felt dizzy and unfocused. She was slowly slipping into her mind, surrounded by her thoughts and the 'what if's.

A sudden deep rumbling froze her in place, sending her heart into a frenzy of arithmetic beats. She listened carefully to the grinding of stone on stone, as if multiple gates where being opened and closed. The grating ended with a grand thud that vibrated through Annabeth's bones and sent dust off the ceiling. She didn't dare to speak or move a muscle; she stood in her place, and waited, listening _very_ carefully. By the time her breathing returned to normal, she had resumed her slow walk.

Annabeth continued walking, hearing a distant thump every now and then. More often than she liked, she heard a much closer scatter of tiny legs that left her skin tingly. At this point, Annabeth wanted this torture to end. Without her eyesight, she's rendered helpless. Anything could be a few inches behind her, silently tracking her down. Just waiting for the right moment to pounce… She stopped, trying to adjust her breathing. She didn't like this one bit, and it was destroying her nerves. She shook her head, blocking these thoughts away and took a shaky breath of the pungent air. She took a few steps further and the walls gave away; she couldn't feel them anymore.

For the second time, Annabeth froze. She frantically tried reaching for the walls, the only thing that guided her, but she felt nothing. Her heart slammed against her chest. "No, no no no." She whispered. This was just cruel. She took a step back, only to be startled with a wall behind her, blocking what supposed to be the end of the corridor.

Annabeth turned around, and felt the wall with her hands. Smooth surface, with no distinct features. Annabeth gave it half-hearted punch of no use, and rested her head against the cool surface. She took another shaky breath. "Just let me go already." She whispered. The pure helplessness, the sheer weight of the crushing loneliness that invaded her chest left her panting.

She turned around and rested her back against the wall just as a bright flame ignited a few feet away from her. She cried in pain, the sudden brightness burning into her retinas and intensifying her headache by what seemed sevenfold. She squeezed her eyes shut and shielded her face. Her ear started picking up the all too familiar crackling and popping sounds of fire burning wood. For once in this damned place, she was almost comforted. Almost.

Gradually, she opened her eyes, letting it adjust to the new source of light; a torch burning bright, ten feet away on the other side of the room. The rather odd-looking circular room, Annabeth thought. She didn't waste time; she started inspecting the perfectly circular room, with three openings; on both sides and right next to the torch.

She looked back where the fourth corridor, now blocked, is supposed to be and almost screamed. She stumbled back, tripping in the process. She crawled away, her heart almost bursting out of her chest.

Just a few inches away from where her face was, hanged a man… or rather what seemed like a man, upside down. His smile widened as he started to laugh; a hideous, maniacal screeching noise that turned Annabeth's blood ice-cold. She stood up slowly, withdrawing her dagger. She eyed the man as he landed on the ground nonchalantly, still laughing. After a sharp intake of air, the laughter stopped abruptly.

The flame behind Annabeth casted shadows that danced across the man's face, but she could clearly see how distorted it was. It was inhumane, brutal in proportions; with slit eyes that were too big for his face, and thin lips that bore his insane smile. He stretched his abnormally slender body, digits too long for his hands. He took a swift step towards Annabeth, cutting half the distance between the both of them.

Annabeth took a step back, adjusting her stance and showing her dagger. She wanted to convey a message. She meant nothing but business. "Not another step." She managed to say, sounding a little braver than she felt. The creature just tilted his head at an impossible angle. His body seemed twitchy, always tense and jerking.

"What's wrong, my dear?" He asked. His voice was too breathy, cracking at multiple points. "Are you afraid of me?" His neck snapped into place, his head returning to its original position. Annabeth swallowed. She wasn't scared. She was terrified. She couldn't place this creature in any category. It's not a monster, she never saw a picture or read a description of this thing; in brief, she didn't know what she was facing.

"Who- what are you?" She asked, taking another step back. The creature's body shifted in and out of focus… Annabeth could have sworn it disappeared for a second.

"What am I?" He echoed. He appeared a few feet away to her right, sending panic through Annabeth. His head twitched once, eyes glowing. "I am nothing." He said. "I do not exist." Laughter slowly bubbled out of him as she reappeared again behind Annabeth. She yelped, twirling to face him, only to find the flame burning.

Annabeth looked around wildly, unable to locate the creature. His laughter echoed again, this time from above. Annabeth rolled out of his way just as he dropped, rumbling the ground beneath him.

"But I am a very real threat." He stood straight, hovering over Annabeth's smaller frame. His crooked form shifted in and out of existence, eyes glowing brighter. "Alas, we shall meet again, little Beth," He sucks in another screechy breath, "very soon."

Before Annabeth could react, he's gone. With her heart beating in her throat, she looked around for the man, but he's truly gone this time. She grabbed the torch, welcoming the extra heat. The encounter had left her cold with fear.

This was too close; she was practically a sitting duck. If this… this thing decided to kill her, she wouldn't be able to stop it. It was just playing for the mean time.

Annabeth's legs shook, the adrenaline rush subduing and that realisation settled in. She took a ragged breath, and started inspecting the routes available. If she had any intention to get out of here alive, she had to move fast.


	3. Chapter 3

Annabeth stood in front of the middle corridor and stared at it. After inspecting the three possible options, she discovered that this was the only entrance that had some life to it. She wasn't sure if it was a good sign or a bad one. But it was better than the complete deadness of the other two.

The torch burned brightly, coating the ceiling with a layer of black soot. Annabeth moved it into the entrance, illuminating the proximal part of the seemingly endless corridor. It looked safe enough, as safe as a tunnel with a creature of nightmares running loose can get.

She took a deep breath, almost gagging on the increasingly offending smell of the air and braced herself as she crossed the threshold. For a second, nothing happened. Then the deep rumbly noise started, announcing the closure of this end of the tunnel.

Annabeth held her dagger tightly as she started her slow, tedious walk through the corridor. However, she felt much better having a source of light. She could keep her hands to herself this time, something she was grateful for.

As Annabeth walked, she observed the walls, the spiders skittering away from the flame she held. "Afraid of the fire, creeps?" She mumbled. It felt so good to finally have control over any aspect of this crazy dream, especially over those spiders. Annabeth prayed that the fire would continue to burn.

Annabeth walked through the endless corridor, slowly getting tired. By then, she was used to the noisiness of her environment. But as she ventured deeper, a new sound floated to her ear; grunting. Annabeth stopped and listened intently. She could have almost sworn that she heard that grunt before. The grunt bounced off the walls again, accompanied by the clinking of chains.

"Well, this is new." Annabeth muttered. She started walking again, the sounds coming clearer and clearer as she progressed. She could see in the distance the end of the corridor and what she assumed is another room lying ahead. As she stepped out into the room, the clinking stopped. The figure struggling with its shanks seemed to have noticed Annabeth's presence. Annabeth braced herself as the figure's head slowly tilted up. She expected a contorted face and a pair of large, mad eyes. But what she got was even more impossible; a pair of confused, sea green eyes that she knew too well.

"Percy?" Annabeth whispered as she saw recognition spark on Percy's face, who instantly hurried towards her.

"Annabeth!" He was almost thrown back by the chains binding his leg to the centre of the room. "Annabeth, are you okay?" He asked, jerking his leg in a frustrated manner.

Annabeth was not okay.

She started at Percy, words lost. The last thing she expected was to see Percy, or anyone for that matter, here, in this infernal maze. But slowly the shock of such an unexpected sight faded away, leaving her with absolute euphoria. In matter of seconds, the torch was forgotten on the floor and everything dissolved as into Percy's hug.

Percy squeezed her into a tight hug that flooded her with relief. Relief so indescribable that her legs almost gave away under her weight and a shredded laugh escaped her. "I can't believe I found you." She said, burying her face into Percy's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked again, gently pulling Annabeth away from him. He looked at her with clear concern as she nodded and wiped her face of any possible tears. His hands rested on her shoulders, giving her comfort.

"I'm fine, I'm okay." She smiled at him. She was overjoyed, she has never been happier. "I just- I don't understand how did you get in here?" She took a shaky breathe, her chest a lot lighter than before now that she wasn't alone. "I thought I was alone, and I have been roaming this damned place for what seemed like hours and-"

"Annabeth, can you hear me?" Percy interrupted, still blinking at her in worry. Annabeth looked back at him in confusion.

"What do you mean? Of course I am, I have been talking for-" She started talking, only to get interrupted again.

"Annabeth," he repeated. "Annabeth, can you hear me?" Annabeth swallowed, dread slowly replacing comfort, and soon her chest was weighed with fright.

"Percy?" She whispered, taking a step back.

Percy's arms fell to his side, as he repeated the same question again, and again, and again. Slowly, his face turned blank, and his words lost meaning as he repeated over and over again.

Annabeth took another step back, her dagger shaking in her hand. Her eyes caught the small bodies of spiders darting away from Percy. Or rather… _from_ Percy himself.

When she looked back at his face, his eyes were pool of blackness that reflected her terrified face. His skin seemed to crack, slowly falling apart into bits that morphed into more spiders. With an ear splitting shriek, the wicked replica of Percy burst, covering the walls and the ceiling with spiders and covering Annabeth herself.

Annabeth screamed and started hysterically brushing off the beasts that ran madly all over her, covering her mouth, her nose, scratching her ears and invading her clothes. She was utterly lost in her frenzy, now scratching her skin raw, desperate to get the spiders off her. Slowly her mind wandered away, her grip of reality decreasing, and lost her consciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

Annabeth opened her eyes, disoriented and anxious. But she couldn't pinpoint the reason behind her anxiety. She groaned as she pushed herself off the floor, into a sitting position. Her head throbbed with pain as she looked around, the light from the torch bouncing off the walls. A lump grew in her throat, choking her, as she realised that she was still trapped in this unholy place.

Out of nowhere, the images of her latest encounter started surfacing up, invading her mind. The dread she felt as she realised something was wrong with Percy, the words he repeated. The terror she felt as he slowly fell apart into pieces that morphed into eight-legged fiends- Annabeth clutched her stomach as she dry heaved.

After few seconds, exhausted and worn to the bones, she rested her back to the ball behind her. She squeezed her eyes shut, holding back tears, but it didn't do her any good. Annabeth buried her palms into her face, shaking with silent sobs. She was scared and tired; she didn't know what her next move was or how to get out of this hell.

"What a shame." The words reached Annabeth's ears, alarming her. She slowly looked up, already knowing the owner of the voice. There, in the middle of the room, stood the crooked man, smiling at her. "I almost believed you were tough, dear Beth."

Annabeth's heart hammered in her chest, and she slowly inched her fingers towards the dagger. The creature watched in amusement as Annabeth grabbed her dagger and gradually rose to her feet. She wiped her face hastily, her breaths uneven.

"What do you want from me?" She asked, her voice wavering, betraying her.

"Me?" He asked, entertained by the question. He took a step towards Annabeth, leaning his face closer to her. His eyes stared right into hers, and she felt shivers travel down her spine. She couldn't look away.

"I do not want anything." He said, smiling at her. "I only desire what you desire, _soror._ " The crooked man wavered in and out of reality. "After all, I _am_ you, no?" He asked, another laugh bubbling out of him as he stepped back. Annabeth confused and horrified, watched as his torso and legs shrank, his long arms and slender fingers grew shorter with gruesome cracking noises. Hair grew from his deformed head, eyes now smaller and mouth rather normal.

Annabeth watched in awe as this monstrosity transformed into a rather normal being. The person now standing in front of her was about her height, with similar blond hair, and… a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. She caught a glimpse of the stormy-grey eyes that looked back at her every time she passed by a mirror.

Annabeth let out an audible whimper, looking directly at a perfect copy of her. The pseudo Annabeth stretched, cracking her neck and withdrawing a replica of Annabeth's dagger. The copy curtsied and smiled sweetly at Annabeth.

"Let us start this duel, shall we?" Annabeth's voice tickled her ears, startling her. She swallowed and took a step back. She… She didn't expect this. She didn't expect anything she encountered so far, and it was affecting her self-confidence adversely. Annabeth stood, unmoving, still starting at her doppelganger. "I shall take the first move, then." It said, before charging full-on Annabeth.

Annabeth snapped out of her trance and dodged the slice by the skin of her teeth. Her heart beat madly as she balanced on her legs, eye wide with surprise.

"Focus, little Beth. You might get cut." The copy said as she sliced at Annabeth again. The blade cut into her shirt and grazed her chest. Annabeth winced as she staggered back. The pain helped her focus, to an extent, and she parried the next blow, sending the doppelganger a few steps back.

Annabeth swiped agilely at her copy, a grunt escaping her as she did. The doppelganger blocked the strike, and took a swing at Annabeth, who rolled out of the way.

She quickly stood up, her chest rising and dropping rapidly. She was getting tired and. The doppelganger stroke again, slicing into her arm. Annabeth let out a pained cry as her arm started to bleed. Another slice cut open her right cheek, barely missing her eye. Annabeth fell on her back, with her hand pressed to her face. Pseudo Annabeth loomed above her, smiling.

"Not good enough, dear." The doppelganger said, wiping the blade on her shorts. "You're just got enough." Annabeth tried to push herself up, but the copy pushed her back with her foot, slamming her to the ground. Annabeth let out a pained cry.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked, tasting blood on her lips.

"I told you." The doppelganger lowered her dagger to Annabeth's neck, her face inching closer to Annabeth's. "It's all you." Annabeth slice at the copy's chest, sure of hitting her target this time. But to her absolute shock, the blade passed through harmlessly.

False Annabeth laughed- or rather cackled, something Annabeth never thought she would hear from herself- as she pressed the knife harder against the true Annabeth's neck.

"I do not exist." The doppelganger said. "You _cannot_ hurt me." She took her dagger off Annabeth's neck, and hovered the tip of the blade over Annabeth's hear. "I, on the other hand, _can_ hurt you." The blade was drove into Annabeth's chest in one swift move.

Annabeth breath caught. Her eyes widened in surprise as she felt immeasurable pain flood her. She was hyperaware of the stillness of her heart, which beat madly a few seconds ago. She tried to breathe, to get air into her lung, but instead she coughed blood.

The doppelganger slowly extracted the blade out of Annabeth's chest. Annabeth lied, unmoving. Slowly her conciseness started to drift, her vision getting blurred. The last thing she saw was her copy, herself, standing up and wiping her bloodied blade over the hem of her t-shirt.

Then everything went black.

Annabeth woke up with a start, her breathing frantic. She gulped air desperately, hysteria threatening to engulf her. She shook violently as she looked around, confused and lost.

"Whoa, whoa!" She heard a voice exclaim. She looked at the direction of the voice and saw a hazy figure hurrying towards her. Her survival instincts automatically kicked in, and she started flailing, delivering blows in the direction of the danger.

"Get away from me!" She shrieked, as the person restrained her hands, forcing them down.

"Gee- calm down, Annabeth." The person said. The familiarity of the voice cut through her frenzy. "Annabeth, it's me. It's Percy."

Slowly her vision focused, and she could see a mess of black and sea-green eyes. She closed her eyes, forcing the tears out to clear her vision. When she opened her eyes, she could clearly see him. Face pale with worry and eyes spilling concern.

"P-percy?" She took a ragged breath, looking around. She was no longer in the room with the smooth walls and the hellish creatures. She was in the infirmary; the camp's infirmary.

"Yes, it's me." Percy said, finally letting go of her wrists. Behind him, she could see two other faces that reflected Percy's worry; Jason's and Piper's. "Are you okay?" He asked. The familiar words stirred panic in Annabeth's chest, but she managed to push it away.

"Where am-" She took a breath to clear her head. "What happened?" She asked. The question seemed to bother Percy.

"Two days ago." He said, slowly. He paused. "You don't remember, do you?" Annabeth shook her head. She barely had a grip on what was happening.

"We were fighting a couple of _Dracaenae_ \- okay, maybe a bit more than a couple, a lot more than a couple." He shook his head in disdain. "Anyway, you got knocked out." He sat next to her. "The situation was getting sketchy and Nico decided that it was a good idea to Shadow Travel, to get us all out of there. But something went wrong." He bit his lip. "You didn't wake up since, and no one knew what's wrong; you kept talking in your sleep and-"

"Percy." Piper cut him off. "That's enough." She said kindly, yet firmly. Her eyes seemed a little puffy. "Let Annabeth rest, she barely woke up." She smiled gently and waved her fingers at Annabeth. Annabeth smiled back at her. Whatever happened while Annabeth was out, it wasn't something to be told at the moment, Annabeth deduced.

"We're glad you're back." Jason said, flashing a kind smile.

"Are you okay though?" Percy asked, squeezing her hand. "Is everything alright?"

Annabeth took another uneven breath. She shuddered inwardly. Nothing was alright. She wasn't sure what happened and why it happened. She wasn't sure if she will be able to look at Percy's face without seeing a blank expression and spiders flowing out of cracked skin. But it was over.

"Everything is alright." Annabeth said, hugging Percy fiercely. Percy seemed unconvinced but hugged her back anyway. At least she was out. It was all over.

She buried her face into his shoulder, and took a deep breath. The sea breeze tickled her nose, easing her mind into comfort.

It was all over.


End file.
